eleanortf Start/End of Term

Spring 2026 Virtual Course Shopping Period in Canvas

What is it?

Penn has developed a virtual shopping period in Canvas so that students can “visit” different courses as they finalize their course selections. In Spring 2026 Course Shopping will run from Wednesday, January 14 to Thursday January 29.

Students will be able to access the visible courses through Path@Penn via a link available on the course listing. When students are visiting a course’s Canvas site, it is not the same as being registered for the course. Students accessing a course through this process will not appear on the Canvas course roster and they will not be able to participate in the course discussions or submit assignments. Students who access a course’s Canvas site while not enrolled in the course will need to ask the instructor for permission to attend any class sessions.

The default visibility setting for Canvas course sites is “Course” so that only enrolled students have access. During the virtual shopping period, the visibility setting will be changed to “Institution”. After the virtual shopping period, visibility settings will be reverted back to “Course”.

Read more about which courses the shopping period applies to, how students can access them, and how instructors can opt out for their courses on the Course Shopping page.

Who should I contact with questions?

Please contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu with any questions.

eleanortf Canvas Features, Canvas Updates, Start/End of Term

What’s New in Canvas Spring 2026?

Assignments & Grading

  • Scheduled Feedback In the Gradebook, instructors can manage the visibility of grades and feedback for individual assignments. For details, see the release notes.

Want to learn more about Assignments and Grading in Canvas? See our upcoming Canvas Workshops in January and February.

New Quizzes Updates

  • Survey Support New Quizzes supports Survey-type quizzes, allowing instructors to collect anonymous or non-anonymous feedback, with graded or ungraded options. Instructors can view survey data in the Reports tab. For details, please see the release notes.

    Please note – CSV export of results/reporting is not available for New Quizzes surveys yet. This feature is estimated to release in early 2026. If you will need a downloadable Excel file of student responses, we recommend creating a Classic Quizzes survey for now.

    New Quizzes is currently an opt-in feature. Contact canvas@pobox.upenn.eduif you’re interested in enabling it.

Other Canvas Changes

Third Party Tools

  • Panopto (Class Recordings) has a new and improved course copy process that makes it easier to transfer recordings between semesters. Recordings can still be copied using the old process if you prefer.
  • Perusall has gotten an upgrade. Instructors can find information about the new version of Perusall, and how to copy over previous semester Perusall content in the transition guide.
    • In addition to the new version of Perusall, this tool has a new look and improved features.
      • These include: clarity in multi-part assignments for students, new language options, more efficient scoring templates and rubric application, flexible grouping, and a new “gated assignments” feature. For details, please see the “What’s New in Perusall” blog post.

Questions?

For additional help and support, please email canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.

Kate Rojas Start/End of Term

Take a Virtual Study Break with Penn Libraries!

Staying up late studying? Performing last-minute research? Then, it’s time for a study break! Taking breaks can help reduce stress and improve your ability to focus on a task. 

Visit the Virtual Study Break Canvas site for a collection of stress-relieving activities from Penn Libraries leading up to and during Reading Days and Finals. Activities include games, puzzles, coloring, and more! Discover free in-person events hosted by Penn Libraries. There are also resources to help with research, studying, and stress management. 

Enjoy some mindful downtime so you can return to studying feeling refreshed, focused, and energized. Whether you have been studying for five minutes or five hours, Penn Libraries has you covered. 

Questions, concerns, or difficulties? Email canvas@pobox.upenn.edu. 

eleanortf Canvas Features, Canvas Updates, Start/End of Term

What’s New in Canvas? Fall 2025

The following information will introduce you to notable changes in Canvas for Fall 2025. If you haven’t used Canvas in the past year, we recommend reviewing What’s New in Canvas Spring 2025.

Assignments & Grading

Want to learn more about Assignments and Grading in Canvas? See our upcoming Canvas Workshops in September.

New Canvas Features & Updates

New Features

  • Redesigned Files Page The Files page is redesigned. A temporary button allows users to switch between the new and original interface. For a complete list of how the look and feel of the Files page has changed, please see the release notes.
  • Dyslexia Friendly Font When the Use Dyslexia Friendly Font feature option is enabled in User Settings, the Canvas interface and the Rich Content Editor display text using the OpenDyslexic font by default. If the feature is disabled, both OpenDyslexic and OpenDyslexic Mono are available as font options within the Rich Content Editor. For details, see the release notes.
  • Discussions Default View Settings When creating or editing a discussion, instructors can configure the default view settings, including thread collapse/expansion and sorting options for students, with the ability to lock these preferences if needed.

Feature Updates

  • Media Player with Improved Accessibility and Usability The media player playback experience has been improved with enhanced accessibility, adaptive streaming, and privacy features. For details, please see the release notes.

    Please note – these are changes to the built-in media player in Canvas and do not effect Panopto/Class Recordings.

New Quizzes Updates

  • Text Block In New Quizzes, instructors are able to provide students additional context with standalone text or prompts that are not tied to questions on a New Quiz. For more details, please see the release notes.
  • Question Bank Migration on Course Copy Instructors can migrate Classic Quiz question banks to New Quiz item banks by using the Convert content to New Quizzes checkbox, previously labeled Import existing quizzes on the Course Copy and Import Course Content pages.

    New Quizzes is currently an opt-in feature. Contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu if you’re interested in enabling it.

Third Party Tools

Pilots

  • Wooclap A tool for student engagement through in-class polling and checks for understanding. Wooclap has similar functionality to Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere remains available for those not participating in the pilot.

    If you’re interested in joining the pilot, contact your LSP.

Updates

Questions?

For additional help and support, please email canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.